Margraten (; li, Mergraote) is a village and a former

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

in the southeastern part of the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. On 1 January 2011 this former municipality merged with a neighbouring one, which resulted in the new

Eijsden-Margraten Eijsden-Margraten (; ( li, Èèsjde-Mergraote) is a municipality situated in the very south of the Netherlands. There it is located in the southeastern part of the province of Limburg. This municipality was formed in 2011 from the former municipa ...

municipality.

Preceding developments

Until 1982 the municipality with this name comprised, beside Margraten, the hamlets Groot Welsden, Klein Welsden, Termaar and 't Rooth. In 1982 this municipality was extended with a number of neighbouring municipalities:

Cadier en Keer Cadier en Keer ( Limburgish: ''Keer'') is a village in the Dutch province of Limburg. It is a part of the municipality of Eijsden-Margraten, and lies about 5 km east of Maastricht. History The village was first mentioned in 1266 as Cadirs. ...

Mheer Mheer (; li, Maer) is a village in the Dutch province of Limburg. It is located in the municipality of Eijsden-Margraten and about 12 km southeast of Maastricht. History The village was first mentioned in the 1170s as de Mere, and means l ...

Noorbeek Noorbeek ( li, Norbik, English: ''Noor brook'') is a village in the Dutch province of Limburg. It is located in the municipality of Eijsden-Margraten (Limburgish: ''Megraote'') and about 12 km southeast of Maastricht. Noorbeek is one of the s ...

and

Sint Geertruid Sint Geertruid (Limburgish: ''Se-Gietere'') is a village in the Dutch province of Limburg. It is located the municipality of Eijsden-Margraten. History The village was first mentioned in 1178 as "in monte". The current name is reference to Ge ...

. Also the village Scheulder, that until then was part of another municipality, was added. As a result, from 1982 until 2011 the municipality of Margraten comprised the following population centres, that from 2011 on are all part of nowadays municipality of Eijsden-Margraten.

American Cemetery

At Margraten the

Netherlands American Cemetery and Memorial Netherlands American Cemetery and Memorial ( nl, Amerikaanse Begraafplaats Margraten) is a Second World War military war grave cemetery, located in the village of Margraten, east of Maastricht, in the most southern part of the Netherlands. The ...

is situated. Established in 1960, it is Europe's third largest war cemetery for unidentified soldiers who died in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. 8,301 soldiers are buried there under long rows of white crosses and stars of David. All graves are adopted by locals, who attend the graves and lay flowers. This cemetery is the final resting place for, among others, Lt. Colonel Robert G. Cole, who was awarded the Medal of Honor for action during the Normandy campaign in June 1944. President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

visited the cemetery on 8 May 2005, the first American president to do so.

Gallery

File:002. Netherlands American Cemetery, Gräberreihen.jpg, Netherlands American Cemetery File:Margraten-Wegkruis Termaar-Gen Hof.JPG, One of the many typical "road crosses" in this Roman Catholic region File:TRoeëtGans.jpg, Neighbourhood 't Rooth

People

* Jean Bessems (1945), (Cadier en Keer),

billiards Cue sports are a wide variety of games of skill played with a cue, which is used to strike billiard balls and thereby cause them to move around a cloth-covered table bounded by elastic bumpers known as . There are three major subdivisions ...

; worldchampion artistic in 1985 en 1988. *

Pierre Lardinois Pierre Joseph Lardinois (13 August 1924 – 16 July 1987) was a Dutch politician and diplomat of the defunct Catholic People's Party (KVP) now merged into the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party and agronomist. Lardinois applied at the Wa ...

(1924-1987), (Noorbeek), politician *

Fons van Wissen Fons van Wissen (21 March 19337 July 2015) was a Dutch football player. Club career Van Wissen made his senior debut at 15 years of age at local amateur side RKVVM footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

(30 caps)

References

External links

Municipalities of the Netherlands disestablished in 2011 Former municipalities of Limburg (Netherlands) Populated places in Limburg (Netherlands) Eijsden-Margraten {{LimburgNL-geo-stub